


The Bond

by WhisperArtist



Category: The Rook (TV 2019)
Genre: Alex Gestalt - Freeform, Character Study, Eliza Gestalt - Freeform, Gen, Hive Mind, No Plot/Plotless, No Timeline, Robert Gestalt - Freeform, Teddy Gestalt - Freeform, no beta reader we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-13 17:17:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20586149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhisperArtist/pseuds/WhisperArtist
Summary: Sometimes there are days where she forgets that not everyone sees Gestalt like she does. Days that she, while filling out files at her desk, will remember that not everyone even knows that truth of them. There are also days that she's painfully aware of the fact that no one will ever truly understand, not even her, but she would do her damnest to try.Starts around the first episode and will hit certain plot points to the end of the season until I get bored and do something else with them.





	1. The Past

**Author's Note:**

> I'm in the process of reading the book, so that might end up playing a bit of a role later on. Maybe not. We'll see. I also have around two or three chapters written already. After that, who knows.

She’s older than them. Out of everything, that seems the most important thing to state. She is older than them by three and a half years. They haven’t looked their age difference since they hit their teens, but she always acted it. She acted older than them until they turned eighteen. Until the work really started and things got dangerous. She couldn’t tell you when things started to shift; when they started to watch over her instead of the other way around. It just hit her one day, finally recognizing that different tone that had been there for a while was protectiveness.

But the early days will always be fresh in her mind. The days when they were still unbreakably in sync and couldn’t function apart. When they were young and still learning and were stressed beyond what someone so young should feel. The days when they tried to rewrite their whole identity. They’re good at faking it now, but those months were emotional torture of _wrongwrongwrong._ Of not being able to so comfortably shift from the rigid work persona to the person they truly are. 

It begins when they’re six and a half. She was ten. She was good with people, they knew, she was good at bonding. She wouldn’t know until later that this was more of an experiment on _her_ than anything. That didn’t matter, doesn’t, the past is gone but not forgotten. They didn’t tell her anything other than she was supposed to make friends with them. That was easy, she was good at that. She didn’t expect what she was faced with, though she was far from surprised. Nothing was ever straightforward as it seemed. 

That day will always be burned into her mind no matter anything. The shock followed quickly by acceptance. The excitement for a new challenge and a new friend. They wouldn’t tell her, she had to figure it out on her own. It didn’t take long, but it was fun. She did what she was supposed to and helped everyone get through better and faster.

They became a dynamic duo of sorts. So it was a bit more complicated than that, so what? They rarely spent a significant amount of time apart since, and that’s just the way they like it. Two names, two minds, and one connected soul.


	2. The First Night

She could feel the hovering presence, not needing to open her eyes to know who was there. Well, that’s not entirely true but it was close enough. They were silent at home, but especially during the mornings and nights. No words spoken and footfalls exceptionally light. It was more for her benefit than anything, though she was sure they were this quiet when they were alone. It was more purposeful when she was there.  
She didn’t move, laying still and absorbing the comfortable silence. It was late and there was no routine reason for either of them to be awake, let alone out of bed. It had to be work-related and they were giving her all the time to rest that could be afforded. Sleep was an entirely different concept when it came to the two of them and she didn’t have the same biological advantages that they did.

The air shifted and heeled footsteps came up the hall, clicking in a perfectly even, slightly rushed tempo. There was the smallest of sighs and a hand brushed a lock of hair from her face. It was time to go, then, so she opened her eyes taking a quick guess at which face she would see. It became a bit of a ritual for her a few years back and only on days she forgot did things tend to go _exceptionally_ bad. She met the gaze of the person hovering over her with a playful smirk. They were so predictable sometimes. Little unconscious habits that she was sure they weren’t aware of. 

“Teddy,” she said simply, getting a smile. “I knew it. You’re getting predictable.”

“I am _not_ predictable,” came her response from two areas of the room, though the smile betrayed their offended tone. She rolled her eyes and sat up, glancing around for the source of the other voice. Eliza was standing behind the island swiping through something on one of the various iPads that littered the house.

“Your eyes are purple tonight,” another voice added to the conversation. Robert strolled into the room brushing the front of his jacket, not even looking at her. Damn show-offs… 

“It must be the late hour, I don’t usually get three-part harmony at night,” she joked. “You tend to save that for the office when I’ve had too much coffee and am one annoyance away from snapping.”

“They’re usually red when you wake up,” Teddy continued, ignoring her playful jab. “Or green if you’ve been having a bad dream.”

“Yes, well, I’ve been awake since you started hovering so that probably has something to do with it,” she said, brushing the comment about the unusual color off. Her eyes have always been a mystery to everyone around her. They never seemed to serve any real purpose considering what she was capable of. They didn’t change to reflect anything and didn’t even shift when she used her abilities.

“Something happened on the bridge. Farrier’s expecting us in less than a half an hour.” Alex had finally joined them, it seemed. Sneaking in the room without her notice. Sometimes she was jealous of their ability to move so silently but when at home it was mostly just annoyance when an unexpected voice popped into the conversation from the corner of the room she hadn’t checked recently. 

She got to her feet and padded down the hall passed the four bodies in the room not even pausing when she brushed a hand across Alex’s shoulder as she passed. “I do wish you would wake me up sooner when we get called in though,” she called before she disappeared into the guest room. She didn’t bother to dress up, not able to suppress a giggle as she thought about how she would always look fancy next to Alex. She just thew on a pair of slacks and a lavender turtleneck. She decided to forgo heels and just slid on a pair of black flats before throwing her hair up in a high ponytail and pulling on a dark grey designer coat.

“You look lovely as always, Ruby,” Robert complimented as she walked back into the kitchen. 

“And Eliza is the best dressed as always,” Ruby replied with a smirk. When they started work it became a bit of a competition to see if Teddy could outdress Eliza by her standards. It had come close more than a few times but had yet to happen. “Shall we get going then?”

With synchronized nods that never ceased to be creepy no matter how many times she’s seen it, they headed out in single file. Ruby shook her head at the one last act of ‘normalcy’ as she followed them. As they moved through the halls she watched each body become different, silently aching for them. It was never easy to act like someone you weren’t no matter how long you’ve been doing it and for them it was multiplied by four, but they still pulled it off every single day. Ruby could never be more proud of them.


	3. The Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bit of bullshitery as far as positions go because I'm sixteen and know nothing about the corporate world, so if you could just pretend that you don't see it, that would be great.

Linda pawned Monica Reed off on her. She wasn’t surprised, but that didn’t make it suck any less. Just because she was good with people didn’t mean she wanted to be team babysitter every time some random agent popped up from another country. She had a hard enough time keeping track of Gestalt. With four bodies that can be in up to four places across the city at one time, they were a mess to keep track of. Now she had to do that on top of keeping this new American off of everyone’s ass.

Ruby walked out of the conference room with Monica on her tail, keeping herself focused on the tablet in her hand. Ingrid was amazing at her job and had got her Monica’s file before they were even done with the meeting. She would have to remember to buy her coffee as a thank you. She went mostly underappreciated and Ruby would not take part in that.

“Mhm, Gestalt, before you go,” Ruby called as she brushed past Robert on his way out. “Those files I gave you two days ago. Eliza was the last one to have them, right?”

“Yes. They’re still at her desk,” he replied.

“Great. Can you get them on my desk by tonight?” She asked. “Conrad wants me to file them before midnight.”

“Of course,” he replied, zoning out for a split second. Ruby raised a questioning eyebrow. “ Alex.”

“Trouble magnet,” Ruby said with a bit of a nod. “Be safe out there. All of you.”

“I always am,” Robert replied with a knowing look before leaning down to kiss her cheek. She chuckled at the gesture before shewing him away. Only once he was out of her sight did she continue to her office.

“Okay, what the hell was that?” Monica asked, still trailing after her. Ruby rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. No questions were to be answered until she was in her office where she could successfully multitask and entertain her newest unwanted charge. On top of that, only a select few members of the Chequey, mostly those who ranked Rook or higher with a few exceptions, knew about her EVA. The last thing that needed to be leaked across the building was information other people could use to bring them down.

“What do you want to know?” Ruby finally asked once she was settled down behind her desk. She didn’t bother to look at Monica and just started to go through the various files on her desk. “You can take a seat you know.” Monica gave her a scathing look before sitting in one of the four chairs across from her desk. Chairs for Gestalt.

“How about your name maybe?” Monica asked with a slightly bitchy tone. “And why the hell I’m being saddled with you.”

Ruby laughed. “Ruby Hanover, head of Internal Relations, and _I’m_ being saddled with _you._ Trust me when I say that I have better things to do than babysit someone else.”

“I’m being _babysat?”_ Monica sounded thoroughly offended.

“That’s what being head of Internal Relations means,” Ruby said, grabbing papers from the printer. Monica’s files. “If someone, inside or outside of the agency is acting out or unwanted I get to watch them and keep them in line.”

“That sounds like a shit job.”

“You have no idea. I guess it was in the making considering my EVA. Bonds and all that.”

“Wait, what?” Monica leaned forward ever so slightly. “Bonds?”

“I can sense the various bonds between people and manipulate them,” she explained, skimming over the description of Monica’s EVA. Super strength. Primitive but undeniably helpful, especially in the field. “I can make, break, strengthen, and weaken. I’m also very charismatic, though no one can really tell me if that’s personality or EVA.”

“Okay, so what about everyone else in this joint?” Monica wasn’t letting up on those questions. “The head bosses, the five other rooks. What can they do?”

“There are only three Rooks here, but I’ll get to that,” Ruby said, waving away Monica’s question before she can even ask it. “Conrad can manipulate the atmosphere. Make it poison, truth serum, all that fun stuff. Hell if I know what Linda can do, that’s so classified that I would be dead by the time I could get the kind of clearance to know. Myfanwy basically has electric touch. It’s apparently pretty cool but I’ve never actually seen it. Gestalt is pretty much the only one who has.”

“Yeah, what’s up with the creepy quadruplets? If they’re always like that I would be liable to shoot myself,” Monica said. “And what the hell was that with… Robert, right?”

“Gestalt is… complex. It took Myfanwy ages to figure them out. I knew within half an hour, though I was ten when I met them,” Ruby started. “Gestalt is one mind spread across four bodies. They’re a hivemind. The identical twins are Alex and Teddy; Alex is the one with the curls. The fraternal are Eliza and Robert.”

“So that’s why they talk like those evil twins in horror movies,” Monica mused. Ruby couldn’t help but laugh. She made the comparison herself for years. 

“The Chequey raised them to individualize; compartmentalize. It allows them to be in four places at once and to accomplish four tasks at once, but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re just one person. They act like each body has a different personality and refer to themselves as ‘we’ in public, but it’s not who they really are.”

“You seem to know a lot about them,” Monica said, her tone suggesting so many awful things that Ruby wanted to wash her brain out with bleach. “So that’s what was up with Robert.”

“God, ew,” Ruby said, not able to stay professional with the gross thoughts swirling through her mind. “Gestalt is like a younger sibling. That was just their personality. They’re flirty and physically affectionate. We were all kind of touch-deprived as kids. Either way, I’ve been their guardian since we were young which means I now get to keep track of where each body is at any given time.”

“Sounds like a handful,” Monica said.

“My point exactly,” Ruby agreed. “So if you could be self-sufficient without pissing my bosses off that would be fantastic. I don’t need any heat on my ass.”

“Got it, I’ll get out of your hair. Farrier wanted me to check in with the tech nerds when we were done here anyway.”

“Ingrid is a goddess and you should treat her as such,” Ruby said, focus back on her paperwork. “Do you think you can find it on your own or do I need to call someone to take you there?”

“No thanks, I’m sure I can manage.” Monica left decidedly less bitchy then when she came. Ruby smiled at the bond that had started to be forged, content to leave it alone for now. It was strengthening finely without her tampering with it and any relationship she could create without using her EVA was more useful than one with it. And Gestalt wouldn’t believe she made peace with the newest crazy without any help.


	4. The Shit Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The storm is building. It's on its way; it's only a matter of when.

“I have seventeen years of fieldwork officially, nineteen unofficially. An extra seven years of training before that, and I swear to god Linda thinks I’m a babysitter.” Ruby was annoyed, beyond annoyed, waving her arms expressively as if that would help her prove her point. A light chuckle sounded from above her; apparently, she wasn’t getting any sympathy today. She swatted lightly at whoever was above her. She was laying on one of their laps but it would be a miracle if she could remember who.

“Ow.” The response she got when she made contact was far from convincing and came from across the room. Eliza considering the female note to it, indulging her. She turned to glare in that direction, noting the fact that only two of the four bodies were in the room subconsciously. Eliza was reading through a file to no one’s surprise. If they were at work Ruby had to be dying to get the unyielding attention of all four bodies. Sure, she didn’t need it but she liked to be selfish sometimes. 

Ruby huffed and rolled back onto her back, now staring at Alex’s jawline. He wasn’t present, and she couldn’t help but wonder what the other two could be doing to warrant that much brainpower, or maybe it was just easier that way. In all of the years she’s known Gestalt, Ruby could never figure out how that worked; weather it was simpler to focus on one mind or if it was an unconscious habit.

“Teddy and Robert must be having a fun time if you’re over there and not here,” she said, not being able to resist the desire to poke Alex’s chin. He finally looked down at her at the contact, smiling lightly at her antics.

“Just because we’ve got a rogue EVA doesn’t mean any of the normal work stops,” he said. “I take it you’re not having fun with the American?”  
Ruby hummed lightly. “So you were listening to me.” Alex rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything. “It’s less of what she has done and more of what we all know she will do.”

“Beyond making any of the work I do more complicated?” Apparently, Teddy and Robert were back because she heard four distinct voices, causing her to start slightly. They laughed at her and she glared. It wasn’t as if she expected more than two people answering her.

“I would take extra stress in the field over all my extra paperwork any day,” she said, watching as Teddy went to sit in on of the chairs near Eliza and Robert joined her on the other end of the couch. She put her feet on his lap without hesitation and continued on. “It’s like your Pompeii incident all over again.”

“That was not my fault.” One hell of a sore subject that always got a four-part rise out of them. It was probably wrong how much fun she had poking at it every once in a while. It was payback, she reasoned, for all of the times they felt the need to bring up her mishaps or bug the crap out of her while she was working.

“Either way, the stack of files on my desk is already twice the size it usually is, and this clusterfuck has only just begun.”

Ruby got agreeable silence as a response. Her monthly influx of stupid people had already started and now the chaos had to be multiplied. It wasn’t as if she was surprised. The Chequey always attracts nonsense at the worst possible times and she doubted this time would be any different. If anything, it would be worse considering the problem they had to deal with was worse. 

Ruby let out an airy sigh, but otherwise let the quiet persist. It wasn’t as if she could do anything about the mounting nightmare and they rarely got any quiet around the Rookery. They would just have to deal with whatever comes, adapts and overcome as she liked to say, and they were good at that. Improve and adapt. That wouldn’t be so hard, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what happened in Pompeii, but I can figure it out if you want. Also, the idea is that the kids start working for the Chequey at 18 on paper, but they really start at 16.


End file.
